


Herringbone and Lace

by Anirrahn



Series: Fight Like a Girl [3]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Rule 63
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-13
Updated: 2013-06-13
Packaged: 2017-12-14 20:14:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/840931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anirrahn/pseuds/Anirrahn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Donut spends more time with her than anyone else in the canyon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Herringbone and Lace

The first time Donut had met her, he’d been too preoccupied with trying to impress his new teammates to pay her any real notice. He’d arrived at Blue Base, extremely pleased with himself for having found the ‘store’ on his own, only to be yelled at by the soldier in cobalt armour. By the time he made his way inside, he was grumbling under his breath, frustrated with the way he was being treated. _Would it kill them to at least_ attempt _to be polite?_

Thankfully for him, _she’d_ been nice. Positively sweet and earnest, in fact. He remembers the soft intonation in her voice, a welcome respite after the gruff orders that had been barked at him from the moment he’d signed up for duty. Mostly though, he remembers the confusion. Neither of them really knew who the other one was and, after an especially convoluted conversation, he had ended up in possession of their flag. In the end, she had waved goodbye to him as he’d carried it off and he didn’t even consider the possibility that he might see her again.

He did though.

See her again that is.

It had taken place shortly after their initial meeting actually. His armour had had a paint-job and (for some _mystifying_ reason) the teal soldier kept referring to him as a woman. He had tried to set the record straight but the soldier still seemed doubtful of his honesty. That had been when she'd spoken up, asking a sincerely interested question about his armour. He didn’t think she recognized him, but she was as pleasant as she'd been the first time they’d talked so that was a definite plus. He had answered her with his usual pep, pausing only to frown as the teal soldier told him to shut up. _Rude._

They had been left alone together after that.

At first, they had both been silent. He tended to attribute this to the fact that there’s not much talking to be done when you’re someone’s hostage. Eventually though, somehow they managed to strike up a conversation and, before long, he felt like he knew her better than he knew anyone else in the entire canyon. (Which, honestly, wasn't too much of a stretch considering he'd only been stationed here less than a week ago.) In nay case, between the stories and the giggling, Donut was having a lot more fun being captive to her side than he'd had during the extended periods of being the third wheel with his teammates. They had even ended up playing a few rounds of Truth-or-Dare! (Though his memory fails him as to when they stopped or what happened for a lengthy period afterwards.)

By some strange series of events, he had ended up having a pseudo-sleepover at Blue Base that day. There was still no explaining to Caboose that he was actually male, but Donut could put up with that misconception if it meant spending more time talking and laughing together. Before long, he remembers having given a teary speech about how much she meant to him. She had been the first friend he’d had in a long time and the emotions that came with it had left him feeling overwhelmed. She had blinked at him as he confessed his feelings and had said something about how his name reminded her of biscuits. He had smiled through teary eyes and agreed.

They’d come a long way since then.

“Are you done yet, Major Cinnamon Bun?” she spins her head around to face him, twisting her body sideways from where she’s sitting cross-legged on the floor.

The air inside Blue Base is cooler today than most days and the floor is perfectly comfortable if, albeit, a bit hard to sit on. It’s still early enough in the afternoon that they have the base all to themselves while Wash and Tucker are over at Red Base ‘discussing war strategies’ with Sarge. Grif had dropped by a while ago to check on them (Donut figured he was probably actually searching for food) but had left soon after when Simmons came around looking for him. All in all, they weren’t interrupted much and were generally left in peace.

He tutts and turns her head back around, “You have to hold still Caboose! I’m doing a really complicated braid here and if we want it to be perfect you can’t move! Any mistakes now and all this effort I’ve put in will go to waste!”

“But sitting like this makes my legs feel sleepy and if they’re napping and I need to go somewhere, I don’t know if I’ll be able to wake them up.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not gonna take much longer,” he smiles, tone affectionate, “Besides, if we take our time and do this right, you’ll look _sooo_ cute that Wash will have no choice but to make makeover night _mandatory_ for everyone~! Ohhh, it’s gonna be _so_ kickass!”

“Are we going to use a lot of colours?”

 _“Hell yes._ I mean, seriously, though! I am so _done_ with the ridiculous Red-Blue colour scheme that everyone follows. Like, haven’t you guys considered bringing any other palettes into your life? There are more complementary colours available you know! And, even outside of complementaries, there’s a whole range of gorgeous shades! I mean has _no one_ in this canyon ever taken a look at Basic Colour Theory?!”

Caboose nods solemnly, “The oranges are crusty.”

“Yes, exactly!” Donut exclaims, “Would it kill them to make things around here a little more _colourful_? I swear, I’m gonna do everything in my power to change things around here! Things need to be more cheerful and upbeat!”

Donut’s hands moved deftly away, easily braiding Caboose’s hair. He relaxed his posture, humming with happiness. Caboose always knew just what to say. Nothing was ever awkward with her. They could start a conversation about something ridiculous and somehow things were still guaranteed to progress smoothly from there. Not for the first time, he felt glad to have met her and become her friend.

There was a moment of companionable silence before Caboose spoke up again, “Mr. Frosty Bagel?”

“Hmm?”

“Does that mean that everyone will look as colourful as Simmons did when you maked him up while he was sleeping that one time?”

Donut winced at the memory of an enraged Simmons chasing him through Red Base, “Err, on second thought, maybe things don't need to be _that_ colourful.”


End file.
